


Women of their dreams

by spockside



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dreams, Female Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-03
Updated: 2012-03-03
Packaged: 2017-11-01 00:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/350192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spockside/pseuds/spockside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabela's seems to be the place they meet most often. Sometimes it's Randy's Donuts, sometimes the Stork Club. No real life to interfere, no orders, no paperwork. And really, really good coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Women of their dreams

Isabela's seems to be the place they meet most often. Sometimes it's Randy's Donuts, sometimes the Stork Club. Once it was a place with a breathtaking view, like a glass bubble suspended in space, but only once.

 

Pepper Potts looks down at her outfit and sighs. Again with the blue dress. Every time she dreams this dream, she's wearing the blue backless dress. Fortunately, it's more comfortable in her dream state than in real life; her heels feel like orthopedic miracles instead of instruments of torture.

 

As she approaches their usual corner at Izzy's she sees a new face.

 

"Natasha," she says. "What are you doing here?"

 

Natasha glowers, but there's a tinge of color in her cheeks, as if she's mildly embarrassed. She wears a black catsuit, like the one Pepper's seen her in on the rare occasions they met on SHIELD business.

 

"I can only assume that she's now in the same pickle as the rest of us," says Peggy Carter, who's seated next to Natasha, smoking a cigarette. Again, Pepper is glad this is a dream, because the smoke doesn't seem to be real to anyone, except Peggy, and it's perfectly in character with her personality, which along with her appearance is pure 1940s.

 

"You mean, she's in love with one of *them*," says Jane, who is as usual glancing up from a lined pad of cryptic notes and equations. "We haven't figured out which one yet. She's not saying."

 

Pepper seats herself and pours coffee from the carafe in the center of the table.

 

"'She' doesn't have to say," puts in another member of the party. Darcy never shows up in the same outfit twice, of which Pepper is slightly envious. She's drinking coffee and eating Pop-Tarts, as usual.

 

"Indeed," says the Lady Sif. "To my knowledge, no one has yet divined who holds your heart, Miss Darcy."

 

They smirk at each other in friendly rivalry. Natasha speaks up at last.

 

"Is that why we're here?" she says scornfully. "Is this some kind of interdimensional pity party? Because if so, I want to wake up right now."

 

"Not a pity party," says Pepper. "More like a - meeting of minds."

 

"More like an officers' wives' club," snorts Peggy. "Except that none of us are wives. And some not even lovers."

 

"So you're saying that each of us is in love with - someone from SHIELD?"

 

"Or someone associated with the Avenger Initiative," says Pepper.

 

"Even your consultant," Darcy grins. Pepper grins back. Natasha is still glowering.

 

"Well, I don't know why I'm here then," she grumbles. "I'm not in love with anybody."

 

"Whatever you say," Jane mutters. "You'd be the first. So far, the theory has held with all of us. Even Darcy admits to it, though she won't say who her 'love interest' is."

 

Darcy, as usual, looks just fine with that. She leans forward and asks Natasha, "If you don't mind my asking, are you a lesbian?"

 

"Not usually," says the lady in question. "Depends on who's interested."

 

"Well, that widens the field, then," muses Darcy. "Anybody else here gay or bi?"

 

"Not unless you count that one time at boarding school," says Peggy. Everyone else shakes her head.

 

"So far we've accounted for Tony Stark, Thor, and Steve Rogers." Jane puts down her pencil and sighs. "If we're talking men only, that still leaves a wide range of possibilities."

 

"That's if we're playing guess the crush," Pepper interrupts. "I don't think that's necessary, do you? I think we're just here to hang out and chat and have coffee. I don't know about all of you, but I never have time for that kind of leisure in real life."

 

"Not to mention that some of us live in another realm," Sif mentions. "There are few opportunities for fellowship with the women of Midgard."

 

"So what's up?" asks Peggy brightly. "As they say nowadays."

 

"Battle, espionage, training," says Natasha. "The usual."

 

"Have you no other interests?" asks Sif. Natasha shrugs.

 

"I'm a loner," she says. "Suits me okay. What do you do on your days off, Lady Sif?"

 

Sif laughs shortly. "I have no 'days off'," she says. "I take leisure when and where I can. And with whomever is worthy of my regard."

 

"How's that going for you?" Jane asks. Her smile seems to suggest an inside joke.

 

"Alas, I have made little progress," replies the Asgardian. "The object of my desire is a most worthy man, but also a trifle too circumspect for my liking."

 

"Playing hard to get, is he?" asks Peggy.

 

"He insists that he is too old for me," Sif bursts out, and nearly everyone laughs. Natasha looks puzzled.

 

"Who would that be?" she asks.

 

"The most honorable Doctor Erik Selvig," says Sif with feeling. "He knows that I have lived a longer life than any on Midgard, yet he feels that I would be wasting my time with him. I do wonder whether he does not return my favor and is only being tactful."

 

Pepper, whose love is the diametric opposite of tactful, nods sympathetically. "That would drive me nuts," she says. "At least with Tony, I always know exactly where I stand."

 

"On a pedestal," Natasha says, with something like an actual smile. Pepper blushes. Fortunately Peggy speaks up.

 

"In my experience," she says, blowing a smoke ring, "men only put us on pedestals in order to look up our skirts."

 

Another round of laughter.

 

"Which is why the shieldmaiden of Asgard wears leggings," says Sif with a toss of her head.

 

"I bet it's Fury," says Darcy suddenly. She's gazing thoughtfully at Natasha, who looks appalled.

 

"Nick Fury? Director Fury?" she scoffs. "Wrong. The man is a, my boss, and b, married to his job."

 

"Could be a secret crush," Darcy counters. "One you'd never act on."

 

"Well, you can forget it. I don't waste time on people I can't 'act on'."

 

"So, someone who's available then," Peggy muses. "That doesn't narrow it down much."

 

"Why wonder?" says Natasha. "Does it matter? What about Darcy's love interest, have you figured that out yet?"

 

"No, but she's been here quite a while," says Pepper. "You're new, thus the scrutiny. They'll let up eventually."

 

"A while? How long has this coffee klatsch been going on?" Natasha looks around the table.

 

"I think Pepper and I have been here the longest," says Peggy. "Then Jane, Sif, and eventually Miss Darcy. Don't ask us about time - it doesn't seem to register in this dream world."

 

"It's always day time here at Izzy's," says Jane. "At the Stork Club it's always Friday night. I don't know about the other places - sometimes we can't see outside, and once we were floating around in space."

 

"Wow," says Natasha, sounding impressed in spite of herself. "I'd like to see that."

 

"It was in Asgard," Sif tells her. "One of the palaces of my family is suspended over the Hall of Kings, high above the realm. I hope that we meet there again some day."

 

"So nobody is in charge of this - this - dream space?" Natasha asks.

 

"Right," says Pepper. "We just come and go; sometimes I don't dream like this for weeks, sometimes it's every night for a few days."

 

Jane sees Natasha grimace at that.

 

"You don't like things that aren't controlled in some way, do you?" she asks. "Like this environment. And like being in love. A lot of times, the one in love has no choice about who she cares about."

 

"Untidy," mutters Natasha.

 

"And of course, we can't control whether the one we love loves us in return," Jane continues, but now she's looking at Darcy. Darcy meets her gaze calmly and says nothing.

 

"What's the point of this discussion, then?" Natasha says, leaning back and folding her arms.

 

"There isn't one," Peggy answers. "Like so much of life, it's all just speculation and hearsay and opinion."

 

She sees Natasha's skeptical expression and leans forward, crushing her spent cigarette in her saucer.

 

"You don't have to take my word for it," she says, suddenly intent. "I've never been one to dispense pearls of wisdom. I just tell it as I see it. As I see it, most of life has nothing to do with what I want, or you want, or what we intend to do or be or have. The bits that we can even think we're in charge of are few and far between. So one has to learn to either succumb and be a victim of circumstance, or fight for what one *can* do, and not whinge about the result."

 

After this tirade, she sits back, looking defiant and weary at the same time. Darcy is staring at her like she's just figured something out.

 

Pepper reaches over to squeeze Peggy's hand.

 

"Thanks," she says quietly. "I hope I can have that kind of perspective when I reach your age."

 

"My age!" Peggy grins. "Hanging about with that lot of daredevils? You'll be lucky to get half so far."

 

"What is your age, Peggy?" asks Sif curiously.

 

"Let's see, what year is this in the world? 2011? What a number. That makes me 91 years old next month. Definitely too old for Steve." She pats her pockets as if looking for another cigarette, gives up, and stands up to leave.

 

"Bye, Peggy," Jane says. "Hope we meet again."

 

"So do I," says Peggy. "I don't get out much otherwise. My granddaughter has promised to get me on an airplane to come visit her in California; I'm not sure I like the idea of air travel, these days. Not when I don't know the pilot."

 

"Maybe you can come to New Mexico and see us," says Darcy. Peggy smiles and pats her shoulder.

 

"That would be - quite an adventure," she says. "Well, toodle-oo, all."

 

She turns and walks out of the diner, back straight in her uniform, out toward the desert without looking back.

 

Pepper sighs. "She's some lady. I wish I'd known her in real life."

 

"Where is she now?" asks Darcy. Pepper shrugs.

 

"She asked me not to look for her," she replies. "I think she doesn't want Steve to find out and go see her. Not like she is now. She's enjoyed her life, she doesn't want him feeling sorry for her."

 

"There are not many who can say the same, when their journey comes to an end," says Sif.

 

"Maybe you should remind Erik of that, next time you see him," says Natasha.

 

"An excellent idea."

 

They sit in comfortable silence for a bit.

 

"You and Clint Barton were seeing each other," says Darcy abruptly to Natasha. "How'd that turn out?"

 

"It didn't," Natasha replies. "We're both too stubborn. We do better as teammates than soul mates." She smiles, a little ruefully.

 

"Is he the one who has caught your eye?" asks Sif. Darcy laughs.

 

"Good try, Sif," she says.

 

"And my last," Sif grins, getting up. "For now. I must take my leave, ladies. Until we meet again in this realm."

 

The rest of them murmur their farewells and Sif leaves the diner, turning a corner, lost to their view. It's just Jane, Darcy, Pepper, and Natasha now, and Jane starts collecting her notes and gulps the last of her coffee.

 

"It's almost daybreak," she says. "I want to be there when he wakes up."

 

She looks almost embarrassed. Pepper, who senses that Tony is already awake and stirring, smiles at her.

 

"I know the feeling," she says. "I'll go with you."

 

She and Jane say goodbye and walk out arm in arm. Natasha eyes Darcy, who refills both their coffees and dumps sweetener into her own.

 

"What about you?" Darcy asks. "It's my day off, I get to sleep in."

 

"Your boyfriend isn't going to wake you up?" asks Natasha slyly.

 

Darcy gives her the kind of smirk she's only ever seen on the Mona Lisa.

 

"He isn't my boyfriend - yet," she tells Natasha, who laughs.

 

"Fair enough. I worked graveyard last night, so I get to sleep in too."

 

"That's great. I was starting to think you Avengers never slept. I feel better knowing you're defending Earth on a good night's sleep."

 

"What happens if I'm the last one here?" asks Natasha. "Does anyone else come along?"

 

"Not unless there's somebody we don't know about who's hot for somebody on the team."

 

"Like the unclaimed Mr. Barton," Natasha mutters. "So then what?"

 

"Well, when it's me, I just finish my coffee and leave, and next thing I know I'm either in another dream or I wake up." Darcy shrugs. "It's usually me. I don't know why."

 

"How long has this been happening to you?"

 

"Since the first time Thor showed up," says Darcy. "But don't get the idea I'm into him. Totally not. He's too flamboyant for me - and too right for Jane."

 

Natasha calculates how long that's been.

 

"Are you telling me that after all this time he still doesn't know you want him?" Natasha doesn't have that kind of patience, not with relationships; but then, her relationships tend to be fast, furious, and death-defying.

 

"I think he's getting an idea," Darcy muses. "It's tough to tell. He has a great poker face."

 

Natasha runs inventory on who in their little enclave has any poker face at all, and eliminates most of them.

 

"So, it's a man, with a great poker face, who isn't hooked up with anyone else," she thinks out loud. "Not flamboyant. Someone you met around the time of the Thor incident. Not an Asgardian?"

 

"Nope," says Darcy. "Although I think Loki's pretty hot. He sounds pretty high maintenance, though."

 

"You've met Loki?" The other woman sits up straight, startled.

 

"He's popped into my dreams once or twice," says Darcy calmly. "I told Jane about it and I guess she told Thor, because I never saw him after that. I don't know what stopped him, but I bet his big brother had something to do with it."

 

"I bet," echoes Natasha. "Well, he's not my type either. If there is such a thing."

 

"I know, right?" Darcy laughs. "My guy is so not what people think is my type. But he's just right for me. One of these days I'll explain it to him."

 

Natasha looks hard at her companion for a minute. Then she grins.

 

"It's Coulson, isn't it?" she guesses. "Phil Coulson. You have a thing for Phil Coulson."

 

Darcy holds up her hand for a high-five and Natasha slaps her one, and they both sit back and grin at each other.

 

"Should I keep that a secret?" says Natasha.

 

"I don't care," Darcy tells her. "It was a fun game while it lasted. I'm going to make my move on him soon, so it wouldn't be a secret any more anyway."

 

Natasha tries and fails to picture what kind of move one might make on Agent Coulson. Her thoughts are interrupted by a question from Darcy.

 

"What about you? Are you going to do something about your feelings?"

 

"I don't know," says Natasha. "It's - complicated."

 

"Well, of course. It's always complicated. You do complicated stuff all the time, why should love be any different?"

 

Natasha sighs. "Good point. How about I let you know, next time."

 

"Whatever you want to do," says Darcy with a smile. "That's the best part about this place. No real life to interfere, no orders, no paperwork. And really, really good coffee."

 

She gets up to leave.

 

"Not the last one this time?" Natasha asks.

 

"Welcome to the club," says Darcy, smiling, and goes out the back door.

**Author's Note:**

> All characters and settings are the property of their respective copyright holders. As far as the author is aware, this work is not based on, adapted, copied, or derived from any other work in any medium.
> 
> Followed by "[At last](http://archiveofourown.org/works/433080)".


End file.
